April 24, 2024

By Tyson Shushkewich

Canadian Baseball Network

There are currently over 158 Albertans playing competitive ball at the post-secondary level, stretching from Division I to NAIA and JUCO divisions.

Of that group, there are only three that call the city of St. Albert home, located a stone’s throw away from Edmonton, the capital city of the prairie province.

It is here where Max Hartman started his baseball journey, one that took him across the province and even outside of Canada. As a high schooler, Hartman (St. Albert, Alta.) took his talents a bit south joining the Okotoks Dawgs Baseball Academy to better himself on the field and extend his playing days past his prep days.

“After growing up in St. Albert, I thought the next best step in my journey was to join the Dawgs,” Hartman told the Canadian Baseball Network. “The expertise and the coaching staff helped me prepare myself for what lie ahead after high school.

“Okotoks was one of the best places to prepare me for that next jump.”

Hartman was the Dawgs alumni of the week earlier this season.

An outfielder, Hartman’s ability on the field and his time spent with the Dawgs Academy didn’t go unnoticed. At 15 years old, Hartman attended the then-called Tournament 12 Showcase (now known as the Canadian Futures Showcase) held by Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre to showcase the top Canadian high school players to a horde of scouts and recruiters through inter-squad games.

These feats on the field didn’t stop there, as Hartman found himself representing Canada with the Junior National Team, which included the 18U Friendship Series (2021), the Dominican Academy Tour (2022), and the WBSC U-18 World Cup (2022).

“Playing with the Junior National Team was unbelievable,” said Hartman. “The amount of different trips, different coaches and players I got to meet and work with was great. I made a lot of connections that I still hold to this day and I am incredibly blessed to have these opportunities with and against such high calibre players.

“To suit up against pro players during our Dominican trip and see how they play and how I compared to them was incredible and eye-opening as well. I also hit well during that trip, which was a bonus.”

(His younger brother Eric Hartman (St. Albert, Alta.) is currently in Florida on the Junior National Team’s extended spring tour.)

Even before he donned the red and white uniforms and represented the nation, Hartman was gaining the attention of schools from south of the border. In August of 2020, the left-handed hitter officially committed to Washington State University in the Pac-12 Conference, home of the Cougars located in Pullman, Wash.

“At first it was between a couple of different schools, but at the end of the day, it was the Cougars that really drew my interest,” said Hartman. “One of the benefits of this particular program was that it was close to home, so my family could come and visit without flying across the country or I could come home on short notice, and that this school also had my desired engineering major.”

Not a lot of college players take a difficult course like engineering while balancing the responsibilities required for a Division 1 athlete but for Hartman, it runs in his genes.

“A lot of my family followed the engineering career path and it was something that really drew my interest early in life alongside baseball,” he said. “The facilities here in Pullman are great, both from an educational and athletic standpoint.”

As a freshman last year, Hartman joined a crowded Cougars outfield group that included Jonah Advincula (eighth round pick, Cleveland Guardians), and experienced players in Bryce Matthews, Greg Fuchs and Jake Harvey, who took up a majority of the outfield reps.

Hartman still found his way into nine games, with the lefty bat posting two hits and two walks while also collecting his first college home run, a deep fly ball off Gonzaga that sailed over the right field wall for a solo shot.

Heading into the 2024 season, the Cougars hired a new head coach in Nathan Choate, brought in from Loyola Marymount to replace Brian Green, who spent four seasons with WSU before being hired as the Wichita State Shockers head coach following the 2023 campaign.

Under Choate, Hartman has seen a significant increase in playing time and has found himself batting in the lead-off spot with regularity.

“I am a guy that needs to not overthink when I step on the field, I like to react and let my instincts take over and try not to overdo or overthink my strategy at the plate,” said Hartman. “I want to go up there and trust myself and have the confidence from the guys behind me and my coaches to take the things I work on in practice and execute on both sides of the ball.”

So far this season, it’s safe to say that the lone Canuck on the squad is doing all the right things on the diamond to earn the confidence of his coaches and teammates (and then some).

Through 39 games and 159 at-bats, Hartman owns a .333/.400/.417 slash line after going 2-for-3 in a lopsided loss to Gonzaga, the team he knocked his first collegiate home run against over a year ago.

He leads the Cougars with nine stolen bases, 38 RBIs, and 12 doubles while staying on pace to be one of the top bats on the squad, ranking in the top five in terms of average, OBP, hits (53), and OPS (.817).

This past Sunday, Hartman hit his first home run of the season against Arizona. In the outfield, splitting time between left and right field, Hartman has two outfield assists and 68 putouts.

The sophomore started the year with a 10-game hitting streak and has two or more hits in 16 games. His top outing so far this year came against UC Riverside in mid-March. Hartman went 3-for-4 where he collected a double and six RBIs.

“That six-RBI game was definitely a blast,” laughed Hartman. “I honestly didn’t realize that I had driven in six that game until after it was over and to do so against a tough opponent in UC Riverside is always good to see. It goes to show that this team has a lot of fun moments and the culture on this Cougars squad can’t be beat.”

For Hartman, 20, he isn’t looking too far in the future. Next season, he is eligible for the draft and also has all the added pressures that come with being a more experienced member of the team. Right now, he is doing everything he can to help his team in the quest for a Pac-12 Conference championship.

“I want to continue producing at the pace I am at the plate and continue to be a good leadoff hitter for my team day in and day out,” he said. “I don’t have any crazy individual goals set out for myself this season and I know next year will be different given the circumstances, but this year I want to be consistent in my approach and continue helping the Cougars win.”